Stretching the Body and The Mind

The Art of Yoga Project, www.theartofyogaproject.org, immediately caught our attention. We have not seen an organization like this before and were impressed with the approach and results of helping incarcerated teenage girls. Here is a letter we received from them.

  The Intero Foundation is amazing and speaks volumes on the commitment of all the realtors that support our local community.  We are so thrilled to be awarded this grant in support of our work with incarcerated teen girls.  At the Art of Yoga Project, we are specially-trained yoga teachers and art therapists going into juvenile detention facilities and Aftercare treatment centers to teach an intervention program to promote girls’ physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being. We consciously hold safe space for girls to develop the self-awareness, self-respect and self-control necessary for shifts in consciousness and subsequent behavioral change. Through breath control, self-witnessing, and slowing down to pause between reaction and action, the young women learn to self regulate, and channel their own process from a place of self destruction to one of reflection, healing and personal empowerment.  Thank you for giving us the means to support these girls and offer them the possibility of a better future. With deep gratitude, Lisa Pedersen Executive Director The Art of Yoga Project